


Universe Adjacent

by anniespinkhouse



Category: Andromeda, Doctor Who, Supernatural
Genre: Crack, Crossover, F/M, Het, Non-Explicit Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-28
Updated: 2013-01-28
Packaged: 2017-11-27 07:17:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/659324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anniespinkhouse/pseuds/anniespinkhouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Dean have retrieved the Colt from Crowley. They have a plan to stop the apocalypse and have a spell to summon the Devil to them. In theory it is a lot safer than going to Carthage. The snag in the plan? It involves Castiel bending time and space to send Sam and Dean into an alternate universe.<br/>Meanwhile … in another space and time, the Andromeda’s engineer Harper, has a plan to stop their own apocalypse at the hands of the evil Abyss. It involves a TARDIS, and bending time and space. Harper’s a genius, surely nothing can go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Universe Adjacent

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Written for whoaeasytiger on Tumblr, who was baiting me with all the wondrous parallels and crossover potential that Supernatural and Andromeda had. Seriously - there are many. 
> 
> Set within episode 5.10, Abandon All Hope, of Supernatural and after Abridging The Devil’s Divide in Season 4 of Andromeda. This very loosely references back to my Andromeda fic, ‘Home is Where My Barrel Is’ but the only thing that is truly relevant from it is that the crew of the Andromeda have acquired a TARDIS, in the approximation of a barrel, which is on board the Andromeda. Please note that this is light-hearted crack. Sci-fi tech experts can be fairly sure that the physics of these events will not work within the cannon of any of the shows and possibly not in our reality either. Pic (such as it is) by me 'cos I wanted to play.
> 
> Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me, none of these shows belong to me and as far as I am aware none of this happened. If you know any different, point me to the nearest space port and I'll be there.

 

 

 

After Crowley gave them the Colt, Ellen and Jo set off together and Dean, Sam and Castiel rode in the Impala. They had been talking around the possibilities of hunting the devil in Carthage for hours when Castiel made his most surprising suggestion. 

Sam turned his whole body to give Castiel, in the back seat, a shocked stare and the Impala swerved as Dean did the same.

When they’d straightened up, Dean gripped the steering wheel hard and shot a safer glance at Castiel via the rear view mirror, “A spell,” he paused to think about it, disbelief playing on his features. “Do you mean you can actually zap us to  _another planet_ , Cas?”

His eyes shone and he turned to grin at Sam as he finally comprehended the entire meaning of Cas’ offer, “Another planet, Sam!"

 Sam glared at him and Dean wiggled his shoulders, gleefully teasing him, “Star-trekkin’ across the universe …,” he started to sing. He trailed off as Sam sported a bitchface and Castiel looked confused. 

"Yes. Well, space and time aren’t as solid and set as you might think. Technically, I can rearrange it to be  _more flexible_  so the planet which hosts the Salu-herb, is in an adjacent reality. I can set you down near to its best source. The atmosphere will be comparable. You will have five hours. It is sufficient,” Cas explained.

 Sam shot a concerned glance at Castiel. “Isn’t that dangerous? Have you got the juice for it?”  

“It is not ideal. I have never been to Padackles5 or known any angel who has, and I cannot guarantee to get you back if we stay beyond five hours. However, Crowley is expecting you to go to Carthage and he is a demon. This is safer, relatively speaking. Do you want to summon Lucifer and stop the apocalypse, or not? You need fresh Salu-herb and this is the only way to gather it.”

 Dean felt for the Colt at his side and ran his fingers over the old, cold metal. It felt good to have it back. He shuddered at the recent memories of the Supernatural Convention, but Becky’s information had been worth the discomfort of it. “Why can’t you zap in and zap back out with it, Cas?” he moaned.

 “It may not be a universe in which angels can exist. I can come with you but I might not be able to touch or carry anything with me.” 

Sam looked between Cas and Dean, he saw Dean’s hesitation. “Do it!” he said.

“What? Now?”

“Yes, now,” confirmed Dean. 

Castiel reached from the back seat and placed a palm on each of their shoulders. Dean jumped, “Er, what?” 

The road swayed and morphed and span in rainbow of hazy colors, and for a moment Dean could swear that Sam turned into a penguin … or perhaps a sofa. His legs and arms stretched and pinged back. His voice worked in Klingon, “Cas, when I said now, I didn’t mean  _now_ , now. We could have pulled over.”

***

“I can always see you, Harper,” The Andromeda’s voice filled every speaker in the workshop as Rommie’s image materialized beside the ship’s engineer. “Don’t you have other things you should be doing besides trying to short-circuit our TARDIS?”

 

Harper, stood straight and rolled his shoulders, “Rom-Doll, Dylan is hiding me as far from his hoity-toity Presidential visitors as he can. It’s all good. If I can just …” 

“Is this part of our current mission?” Andromeda narrowed her eyes at him, “I can tell if you’re lying,”

 “Well, technically… no, but Rommie …,” Harper whined.

“Is this to do with Earth, Harper?”

Harper had that faraway genius-expression on his face, “It’s brilliant. If I can reverse polarity, here and find a way to hook up juice and link the spatial dimensions then I can stop it all. The Magog invasion on earth, everywhere, will never have happened and Dylan will have his Tarn Vedra buddies back. No Abyss, no apocalypse!” He grinned widely at Rommie and bounced on his heels.

 “Seamus Szelazney Harper!” Beka marched in with a murderous look on her face and Andromeda’s avatar pff-ed away leaving Harper with nothing to hide behind. 

“Shouldn’t you be schmoozin’ our guests?” tried Harper, desperately. 

“Where is the Maru? What have you done with my ship,  _you weasel_?” Her hands were on her hips and her blue eyes flashed angrily.

 Harper pointed at the barrel in the center of his workshop. “Woah! Hey! I was just keeping it super-safe for you. It’s all parked neatly and I’m updating the flak cannons for you. No need to thank me. I’m just your resident genius engineer.”

 “You parked it in the TARDIS? Can you even work that thing?” 

“Well, it hasn’t got an instruction manual exactly, but since the original owner made off with the doctor-geezer in the blue police-box, at that shit-hole colony on Padackles5, I am not running to Captain _‘Can’t Keep It In My Pants’_  Hunt, to ask. I've worked out the controls. I got it! Nothing I can’t fix. Did I mention  _genius_?”

 “Harper!” Beka snarled.

 “Okay, okay. Technically, the Maru is exactly where you left it; in a hangar on the Andromeda. It is simply tesserracted ‘universe adjacent’ right now.”

 Another glower from Beka, and Harper had his hands up, “Alright! I’ll put it back. Get in!”

 “In the barrel?”

 “In the barrel,” confirmed Harper as he climbed in the top of it to show the way.”

 Beka rolled her eyes, sighed and followed. She relaxed marginally when she saw her baby safely parked on the huge expanse of the Andromeda’s landing bay, which just happened to be  _in the freakin’ barrel_ , which was a lot, lot bigger on the inside than the outside.

 They both startled when Trance appeared beside them, seemingly from nowhere. She smiled her mysterious smile and glittered a little more gold than usual. She dabbed a fingernail at one of the control arrays and handled a loose wire curiously.

“Harper. I don’t think it’s a good idea to play with space and time again. I mean, you do remember what happened last time?” 

“That was different! This is already built. Fully operational, all I have to do to stop the whole impending apocalypse is …” 

Trance tipped her head and considered him, “Yes, but which apocalypse?” she asked, obtuse, as usual. 

Harper huffed and grabbed the wire from her hand. It sparked as it glanced off the consul “ _The_  apocalypse!” he huffed, impatiently, “The one with the worlds ship and all the Ma …"

A lightning flash of deep blue light exploded across the deck and they all ducked. When the light died away they were intact and nothing appeared to be damaged.

“What was that?” asked Beka, looking around, relieved to see the Eureka Maru standing exactly as it had been.

 Harper shook his multi-tool gizmo and grimaced, “No idea,”

 Just then, the Maru’s warning systems kicked in. The alarm blared and Beka pointed menacingly at Harper, “What did you do?” she shouted. She unsheathed her force lance and ran to the airlock.

 

***

“Is it night?” Dean asked anxiously, reaching to turn on the Impala’s headlights. 

“It’s very dark,” confirmed Sam. 

“We appear to be in some sort of container,” noted Cas.

 “Brake!” yelled Sam.

“You should stop the car, Dean,” Cas remarked simultaneously. 

Dean’s foot stomped on the pedal and the Impala fishtailed and screeched over a rubberized surface before coming to a rest with its bumper nosing at a strange metal wall.

“Goddammit, Cas! If there is a single mark on my car…” 

“We should find a light switch.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Here, take this,” Sam passed a flashlight to Cas.

Cas  handed it back, “I don’t need that.”  

Cas reached around the inside of the car, “How do you … I can’t zap out of the car,” he explained.

Sam creaked the passenger door open and walked around to open Cas’ door. The soles of his boots squeaked on the strange surface.

 Dean opened his door cautiously, “Where are we, Cas?” He focused his beam of light on the angel’s face. 

“Um,” Cas adopted a wide-eyed innocent look and his gruff ‘everything is going to be okay’ voice, “It doesn’t seem to be the actual planet Padackles5. Not far off, just a little past it, into the general vicinity of …space, but er, this seems to be a very sturdy, and well built device that scooped us up, not that I know much about these things but, er…” 

“Space. SPACE.  _Space_?” Dean wasn’t too proud to freak out, “There is no oxygen in  _space_. We are going to explode and suffocate and die, Cas!”

 “Well actually the radiation…” Cas started, and Sam interrupted him. 

 “We’re doing okay right now Dean, so wherever we are has to have some sort of ventilation system," Sam coolly assessed their situation. 

“Venti ..what the hell, Cas? What the Hell?!” 

That was when the klaxon shrieked and the lights went on. 

***

“What do you mean our comms to Andromeda have been cut?! We are  _on board_  the Andromeda aren’t we?”

 

“Well, yes and no. The TARDIS is on the Andromeda but the part of the Andromeda which is in the TARDIS is  _universe adjacent_  to our normal universe and it isn’t responding and neither is  _our Andromeda_  outside the TARDIS.”  Harper looked sheepish, but there was no time to work out the details.

Beka was through the airlock of the Eureka Maru in record time and making her way to the indicated area of intrusion. She wasn’t sure what the hell sort of ship or escape pod stood small and black and shiny in the cargo hold of the Maru, but there were human life forms who were undoubtedly sneaking about on  _her_  ship, and that couldn’t mean anything good. The weapons the intruders held were unfamiliar, but they could certainly punch a hole through a delicate fuel line or the grav. stabilizer. Idiots! 

There was a moment when she considered that one of them, the green-eyed intruder had a very pert ass and pretty face, but he also looked somewhat angry and dangerous. Beka decided this wasn’t the time to test her shaky romantic skills. She launched herself into hand -to -hand combat, knocking the gun out of his hand while he stood rooted to the spot in surprise. She knew that Harper and Trance would have her back. 

Cas blinked at the thing that stood in front of him. Her vessel was delicate and pretty, almost human, but her real dimensions were massive, larger than his, with more power and light. He was briefly distracted by Dean grappling with a tall blonde woman, but they seemed evenly matched. “Should we stop them?” Castiel asked the bright being beside him. 

“I think they’re enjoying it,” Trance answered. 

Harper was open-mouthed in admiration for the car that stood on the Maru’s cargo deck. “Chevrolet, mid-twentieth century?” he wondered aloud, at the tall and well built man, or possibly Nietzchean, who pointed an ineffectual antique gun at him, “Wow. Can I?” He reached a hand to stroke the smooth black steel of the hood and the strange human kept his gun raised but didn’t stop him. 

The man tipped his head to where Beka and Dean rolled on the floor, battling for superiority. “Should we break them up?” he asked. 

“Nah, she’s almost got him where she wants him.” Harper gave a cheeky smile, “What I’d give to be  _there_!”

Harper pulled himself to his full height. The stranger was tall but he seemed friendly enough. “Harper, Seamus, Szelazney Harper,” he said “and I am in charge of the Time and Relative Dimension in Space machine in which we currently stand.”

 “Time and …, well, we were aiming for Padackles5. I guess this trumps that.”

Sam tried not to look too fazed, this Harper looked friendly enough, but then so did most angels, demons and monsters at first glance. 

Harper spouted a lot of technical words that meant nothing to Sam except perhaps the, “I haven’t calibrated everything yet, so maybe we picked you up on your way through to Padackles5.”

“Yep, right.” Sam wasn’t going to think about the fact that he was on a space ship,  _talking with space aliens_ , albeit ones who seemed remarkably human. His brain wouldn’t stretch that far. “Sam Winchester,” he introduced himself with a handshake. 

Harper shook Sam’s hand for rather too long, to establish that he had no bone blades on his wrists. He sighed in relief when Sam proved bone-blade free, so not Nietzchean. It didn’t stop him being wary. Sam Winchester looked friendly enough, but in his experience, so could the bad guys. Hell! Even Beka had been possessed by the Spirit of the Abyss for a while. 

Beka straddled Dean, holding him panting to the floor. “That all you’ve got Big Boy? Think you can sneak onto  _my_  ship and try to steal it huh? It’s coded to my voice, low-life.”

Dean lifted his head, groaned and flinched away from the fist she was curling. “Not stealing anything. You  _stole us_  … well wherever … you scooped us up and hid us in this ...box and now you’re taking us who knows where and  _you hit me_.” The last three words came out as a whine. 

Castiel and Trance watched the drama with interest, quietly comparing notes. Castiel thought it was nice to chat with a celestial being who wasn’t an angel. He could use his natural wavelengths, and this avatar of a sun seemed somehow kinder than his own brothers and sisters. A sun was a naturally warm life-giver, so he could understand that. 

“Huh.” Beka sat on the very firm abs and chest of the man she was restraining and tipped her head at him, before noticing that Harper and Trance were getting along like old friends with the other intruders. She winced at the throbbing in her bruised knuckles and wondered if she shouldn’t have tried talking before action. 

Dean followed her gaze to a short,  blond-haired man who was daring to touch his car. 

“What I don’t understand is how you got here in this. It’s ancient and it’s just a car.” Harper was fascinated by the Impala. 

Sam and Dean bristled together, “It’s a classic,” they corrected, as one. 

“It’s beautiful. Can I?” Harper sat on the old vinyl bench seat and smoothed his hands around the wheel. “Perfect, old-Earth. We should get this off the ramp. We could go for a spin on the Andromeda’s landing deck. Beka, please!” Harper pleaded with the woman who was gradually relinquishing her hold on Dean.

 “Don’t touch her!” Dean struggled, and growled at Harper. 

“You should probably move away,” confirmed Castiel. 

“Hey! You’re on my spaceship, messing with, my things, Douche!” Beka retorted in defence of Harper. 

“We’re on a spaceship?” Dean was suddenly grinning, looking up at Sam, from his unfortunate position on the floor, “Star Trek, dude.” 

Beka was blindsided by Dean's sudden childish excitement, and the crinkles that developed around his sparkling green eyes. She loosened her hold for just a moment and Dean took advantage. They rolled over and now Dean straddled Beka and she looked up at him with fluttering eyelashes and wriggled coquettishly under him. 

“Get a room, you two,” Harper chided, with barely a glance at them. Dean chewed his lip and Beka licked her lips. Sam rolled his eyes.

“Trance has Salu–herb on the hydroponics deck of their ship, the Andromeda. You should go with her to get it. We are safe with these people. I cannot cross out of the space and time capsule we are in, but you can,” Castiel stated flatly, before frowning down at Dean. “Dean, you should get off the floor.” 

“Awesome.” Dean was already dusting himself off. 

Harper only had to glance at Trance and she shushed him with a gentle smile, “They’re travelers passing through. Dylan would want us to welcome them.” 

Beka directed a salacious smile at the man who rose to his feet and offered his hand to her. She took his grasp and yanked him back to the floor, to land with a  _whump_  on his ass, and she laughed, before offering her own hand to help him back up.

“Captain Beka Valentine,” she announced, looking him up and down, in no uncertain way.

“Dean Winchester,” Dean raised his eyebrows and spoke in a low lazy drawl, “You’re very strong.” 

“Dean!” Sam bitched, impatiently. 

“I work out. You have well-defined muscles, Dean. How about … you show me yours and I can show you my … ship.” Beka teased, looking directly at Dean. They both ignored Sam.

 “I’ll get the herb, then,” huffed Sam. 

“Yeah, yeah, you do that Sammy. I’ll just, er explore this ship, check out my Baby and make sure we’re all set for the return trip.” 

Sam hmmed. 

Harper raised his hand, “But I get to drive the Chevy first, right?” 

Sam, Dean, Castiel and Trance all replied together, “No!” 

If I can work the TARDIS then an old car will be easy,” Harper muttered. 

This Harper guy was way too chirpy for Sam, but it was Castiel who replied, “It appears that you allowed some part of the space and dimension device to malfunction, or we would not be here. Dean is very  _protective_ of his car.” 

“You wouldn’t last two minutes on Padackles5. Feel free to thank me any time for saving your asses. I should take a ride with Dean, I want to see this engine ticking.” Harper’s cheerfulness wasn’t damped an iota, and Sam could see Dean getting swept up with the engineer’s enthusiasm. 

"I’ll just go with this  _alien_  person then, Dean.” He looked at Trance and she smiled encouragingly at him. 

“Sam!” hissed Cas. 

"No offence, intended.” 

“None taken.”

Trance was sweet and polite. It didn’t escape Sam’s notice that she was also very pretty, with unusual red hair and small, pointed ears, and  _she sparkled_. 

They climbed out of a barrel into what looked like a high tech workshop with a mess of cables, metal panels and electrical equipment. Sam looked back and blinked. They had climbed out of an ordinary, everyday  _barrel_.

“Oh good, nobody here.” Trance looked relieved. “There was a 3.5% probability that Captain Hunt would be showing his visitors this part of the ship. 

Sam frowned. He didn’t understand a word, but he nodded in tactful agreement. His whole body jumped in shock when the image of a dark haired lady in uniform materialized in front of them, with crossed arms and a stern expression, “ _I am always here_ , Trance, and this is not one of our guests. I don’t have any record of him boarding and …  _scanning .._.” 

“Well, yes that’s true, Andromeda. This is Sam Winchester. We picked him up accidentally with the TARDIS,  _because Harper_ , and he needs a plant from Hydroponics and then he can go home, and Dylan need not worry, because he’s busy.Trance spoke quickly and sounded innocent and reasonable. She had a way of speaking that made anybody want to believe her, but  _Andromeda_ was scowling at her and tapping her fingers on her arm. Trance explained to Sam, “This is Andromeda, Sam. She is the ship you are on.”

 Andromeda redirected her scowl at Sam, “I’m a warship. The most powerful warship in the known worlds,” she clarified. 

Sam gulped, he didn’t know if he liked the implication in her tone _. Could machines have a tone?_   “Hey, hi, I’m Sam Winchester, I like your … corridors, they’re very …clean, and um shiny.”

He gave Andromeda his best puppy eyes and his hand flailed in midair, because _, how do you shake hands with a hologram_? 

Andromeda seemed to be concentrating, “He’s human and he’s not … Trance, I can’t get a reading on him. It is as if he is not here.” 

“Well, in a way, he isn’t, and he won’t be  _not here_  for long,”  Trance spoke quickly, and Andromeda didn't look impressed with the explanation but the hologram moved aside to let them pass. 

“Hmm. Well, I will be watching you both.” 

“I know.” Trance’s chuckle was tuneful and full of fun. She tugged Sam’s hand to get him to follow her and the hologram disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. 

Doors szshed in proper sci-fi manner and the corridors were metallic and futuristic. Sam began to wonder if he was stuck in one of the trickster’s TV shows, but Castiel had brought them here, he definitely remembered that. 

The doors that opened into Hydroponics szshed behind them and Sam gaped in awe at the vision of lush green and vibrant colors. Dean and Sam had been to the Cleveland Botanical Garden as kids, and it wasn’t a fraction of the size of this. He found it hard to believe that they were in space. Trance led the way, trailing delicate fingers over foliage “We will find your herb and I can show you my plants. You can tell me all about your friends and why you need it. Your angel can’t take you home until he’s rested.” 

“We only have five hours,” Sam was concerned. 

“Castiel told me. I won’t let you be late.” 

He relaxed. Castiel had said he could trust her, and Sam decided that he liked Trance.

 

***

 

Dean decided that he  _really liked_  Beka. She was strong and sassy, with a fine, toned and flexible body. She had an unusual affection for the ugly, angular cargo hauler ( _spaceship_ ) which had been her father’s, and was her transport and her home, since childhood.

The Eureka Maru wasn’t the shined metal and fancy lights of his Star-Trek expectations. It was real and solid with mechanics he thought he might understand, given time. Despite the numerous welding patches, old repairs and bundles of wire Beka had shown him, he thought it was awesome.  He could get his head around her delight at his enthusiasm, especially since she had finished showing him the cockpit and mess, and was now showing him her cabin, complete with a double bunk and a slow striptease. 

Castiel and Harper had made themselves scarce soon after Harper rode shotgun in the Impala, making little loving noises at every part of the old car and stroking her dash.

Dean assumed that Castiel’s diplomatic silence meant there were no inconvenient consequences to banging a chick from an alternate reality, on a spaceship, in a spaceship, in  _space_. He shuddered at the thought of space. His initial zeal had waned and he was trying to forget the whole unnatural  _hanging in nothingness_  thing. It felt a little too close to flying and that was going to freak him out. He didn’t want to freak out, not when he could bang the hot captain-pilot-chick instead. 

Beka’s fingers traced a steady line down his chest and nimbly unbuttoned his plaid shirt, “So many layers, and I’m going to get to the bottom of them all,” she murmured, pushing him with surprising force onto the bed to look up at her, with darkening desire. Dean let her take and manipulate him, and she reveled in it. She enjoyed a moment that couldn’t be tainted by the influence of the Abyss, by a controlling lover or by her own deception. This was  _no ties_ , honest, pure lust and the freedom of it was exhilarating. 

How Sam was getting on in his quest for a rare herb, whether Cas could get them home, and the whole Lucifer/apocalypse disaster seemed a million miles away to Dean. It probably was.  _Yes, yes please_ , was what filled Dean’s mind. It would be nice to stay here, far away from it all, but this moment would suffice. He surged up to meet Beka’s mouth and they kissed, hot and hard and needy. They fell into each other with a passion that was full of strife and loss and  _maybe now is all there is_ , and they let it drive and consume them. 

Castiel let Harper’s incessant, rapid chatter wash over him, with an occasional bland reply. He didn’t need to know the cost of a whore with three breasts on Cylon Minor, and didn’t think he would be surfing any red storm waves in the Hamry system. They worked amicably to restore the TARDIS dimensional functions so they didn’t interfere with his ability to get the Winchesters home to Bobby’s Salvage Yard. Castiel understood frequencies, waves and matter, and it was nice to be useful in a practical way for a change.

***

Trance took Sam to the observation deck before returning to the barrel. He stared in wonder at space through huge transparent windows.  It was vast and magnificent. Trance pointed out nebulas and dwarf stars, planets and asteroids. 

“Where’s Earth?” asked Sam. 

“It is millions of light years from here. Even in slipstream it would take weeks to reach, and it isn’t the place that you know. We all have our own monsters to fight, Sam. Angels would destroy your world. The Abyss and his agents would take this universe from us. I cannot see a perfect possible future, not yet, but the Andromeda and her crew will fight for what is right. It is the same with you, your friends and your angel. You mustn’t lose faith.” She put a comforting arm on his and he let her. “We should get back,” she said softly. 

The barrel sat innocent and threatening, in the center of the workshop and Sam glowered at it. He had to be hallucinating if he thought he had emerged from it.

 “Come on, Sam,” Trance grabbed his hand and pulled at him as she disappeared into its impossible depths. 

Sam checked his pocket for the small pot that held the Salu-herb safe, scowled and squeezed in. 

Dean watched Sam drop through the hatch and down the ladder. He threw his hands up in sarcastic despair. “How long does it take to pick a flower, dude? Did you have to _grow_  the freakin’ thing?” 

Castiel looked between the brothers, “You didn’t seem to be worried, Dean. I could have reassured you.” 

Beka coughed and reached to adjust Dean’s wayward collar. 

“Believe me, he was getting plenty of  _reassurance_ ,” snarked Harper. 

“Time to go.” Dean was quick to point out. 

“Yeah, I guess.” 

Trance, Harper and Beka walked them to the Impala which stood in the vast open space of something that looked like a runway or launch-pad to Sam. He anxiously peered in both directions before crossing the smooth surface to get to it. 

“Hang on.” Sam popped the trunk and reached in to find something. 

“Sam? What the hell?” Dean wondered. 

“They gave us something we needed. It’s only fair we give them something that they need.” Sam pulled out an anti-possession amulet on a fine chain and showed it to Trance. “This is the same as my tattoo, you can keep it.” 

“It’s perfect, thank you. Take care of yourself Sam Winchester.” Trance pulled him in for a warm hug. 

Beka curled and uncurled her fists, fidgeted and looked at the ground and then back at Dean, “So, I guess this is goodbye.”

 “Yeah, it was, well, y’know, good meeting you,” Dean said, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“It was a bit, a lot, fantastic, well, for me,” said Beka, “We should maybe …” she thumbed in the direction of Trance and Sam and they awkwardly mirrored their hug. As they pulled away from each other Dean blushed,

 “By good, I meant awesome,” he murmured. 

Beka grinned and punched the air. 

Castiel was startled by Harper wrapping eager arms around him for a brief squeezing hug. He stood uncomfortably and let him. “Everyone else is doing it,” Harper explained, “Good luck, Cas, not that you’ll need it. My skills  _are_  incredible.”

***

Dean closed his eyes on the return journey. He didn’t need to experience Sam turning into a sofa again.

***

Beka and Harper climbed from the barrel and made for Command Deck. Trance lagged behind. Her eyes glowed gold and she gave a mysterious smile. The barrel shimmered and it wavered between transparent and solid. There was a loud  _whoosh, whoosh_  and it was gone entirely. She made light steps to the Officers’ Mess where Captain Dylan Hunt was gulping a glass of Morovian Vodka. 

“Ouch. That bad!” she grimaced at his tired expression. 

“Next time I offer to host peace talks for  _anybody,_  shoot me. It would be less painful. Have you seen Beka? She made a strategic exit during the negotiation for an empty lump of rock in an asteroid belt. I do not believe that we were actually being boarded by midget penguin magog.” 

“She’s on Command Deck.” 

“And you, Trance? Is there anything I need to know about the TARDIS and some Sam Winchester, who was here,  _but not here_?” 

“No. There’s no Sam any more, and Harper appears to have lost our barrel.” 

“That thing is dangerous.” 

“In the wrong hands, yes, but there is a good probability that it will find its Time Lord.” 

Dylan squinted at Trance, he could never tell if she was being serious or not. He shook his head and took another mouthful of vodka.

 “There’s this.” Trance held up the anti-possession amulet and let it coil into his palm. 

Dylan’s eyes widened, “This is Vedran. I haven’t seen one of these in …well, since I was a child on Tarn Vedra. How?” 

“Evil is similar in every reality. It will become hot to touch when the Spirit of the Abyss is close by. Call it a gift, from  _not Sam_.” 

Trance left the room silently as Dylan stared down at the necklace with clear blue and curious eyes. 

“Trance …” he called, but she was gone. 

***

The Salu-herb was a bust, or rather the Egyptian goat’s skull that Bobby had been passed off as genuine, was actually Ethiopian. “ _Semantics_ ,” Bobby’s contact had told him just before he lost his two front teeth. They would go into Carthage without it and no doubt the Devil would find them. 

They spent their last night before hunting the Devil, at Bobby’s. 

Ellen and Jo Harvelle looked on in awe as Castiel downed another set of shots. He was actually starting to feel something, perhaps a little giddy On the other side of the room, Sam looked across the desk at Dean with his most stubborn puppy eyes. “If we’re gonna do this we’re going to do it together.” 

“Okay, that’s a stupid freakin’ idea.” 

They both nodded and then Dean was distracted by the pull of Jo’s jeans across her ass, and he stared. 

“Boy! Talk about stupid ideas,” Sam commented. 

“Good God!” Dean groaned. 

Dean crossed the room and Sam swigged his beer as he watched his brother with Jo, by the cooler. 

“Are you giving me the last night on Earth speech?” Jo smiled. 

“No. No! … If I was, would it work?” Dean came in close enough to feel Jo’s warm breath on his face. 

“No! Sweetheart, if this is our last night on Earth I am going to spend it with a little thing I call self-respect.” Jo grinned impishly at Dean. 

Sam winced. He almost felt bad for Dean. 

Dean sauntered back to his brother. “There’s something to be said for space chicks,” he sighed, and raised his beer to Sam. 

Bobby called for a photograph to be taken and Dean tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at Sam, as he suddenly remembered something. “Sam, how did the glittery chick know about the tattoo on your chest?” 

Sam put his beer on the table. He chuckled and wiggled his eyebrows at Dean, then tugged at his arm. “C’mon, get in place for Bobby and say cheese.” 

 

~end~


End file.
